Recreational vehicles have become more popular as families and retirees look to travel closer to home by road, travel with more of the comforts of home, including pets, or a combination of both. Recreational vehicles can span the size of being the size of a van all the way up to the size of a large bus. Travelers also have the option of buying a recreational vehicle or renting one, depending on the travel needs at the time. While many variations of recreational vehicles are manufactured, Class “A” and “Bus” style recreational vehicles are defined as those that are manufactured on a large truck chassis distinguished by the fact that the driving area can be accessed from the living space or vehicle interior while standing.
There are times of the day (or night) where the travelers need to cover the windshield. In some instances, travelers may want to cover the windshield at a stop or campground in order to keep sunshine out and the interior of the vehicle cool. At other times of the day, travelers cover the windshield to keep outsiders from being able to look inside of the interior of the vehicle, such as at night. Finally, travelers who own their recreational vehicles need to protect the windshield when the vehicle isn't in use or is in storage.
Suitable covers should also be adjustable and flexible, while being easily stored and cleaned. The adjustable feature is critical, in that travelers may need to use the windshield cover on a number of different types and sizes of recreational vehicles. The flexibility feature is also critical, in that a hard or stiff windshield cover is likely going to leave gaps between the cover and the windshield or may crack or break after some use. The flexibility feature is also critical for storage. In a recreational vehicle, there is very little room to store anything, and therefore, any suitable windshield cover must be able to roll or fold up in order to be easily stored in a small space, such as under a seat, in a glove compartment or another small space.
At this point, there are still very few options available for recreational vehicle travelers. There are internal shades that pull down when the traveler wants to shield the inner compartment from the outside. However, these shades rarely cover the full inside of the windshield, they do not protect the windshield itself and they are not able to be used on other recreational vehicles, since they are cut to the size of the inner compartment and usually mounted above the front seats. There are also custom windshield covers that are made to the exact size of any given windshield and mounted in place using snaps or twist grommets. After several years of outdoor exposure these types of covers tend to degrade from ultra violet light causing the vehicle owner to replace the cover with an exact matching snap or twist grommet pattern, which can be difficult to accomplish.
To this end, it would be desirable to develop, produce and utilize an adjustable and flexible recreational or large vehicle windshield cover, specifically for Class “A” and “Bus” style Recreational Vehicles that: a) can be used on a number of different types and sizes of Class “A” and “Bus” style recreational vehicles, b) will not leave gaps between the cover and the windshield, c) can be easily cleaned, d) does not require drilling of snaps or twist grommets into the body of the vehicle, and e) can roll up or fold up in order to be easily stored in a small space, such as under a seat, in a glove compartment or another small space.